


the thin line between altruism and megalomania

by woopsforgotadam



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Canon-Typical Violence, Comfort, Hurt, Multi, Pokemon Journey, Pokemon Science Gone Wrong, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:14:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22119211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woopsforgotadam/pseuds/woopsforgotadam
Summary: or: A Pokemon Odyssey by Lucy Heartfilia.A region filled with Pokemon and trainers, Fiore is known for its flower theme and long history of humans and Pokemon working together. There was a long warring period in Fiore a thousand years ago. Two legendary battled for the warring to end. When one rises, so does the other to stop it: that is the legend of Zeref and Mavis.The Region itself is known for it's challenging twelve gyms, their Elite Four and the ever charismatic reigning Champion, Makarov Dreyar. Their Battle Guild system is nothing to look past, either.
Relationships: Lucy Heartfilia & Her Pokemon, Lucy Heartfilia & Lisanna Strauss, Lucy Heartfilia & Many, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Natsu Dragneel & Lucy Heartfilia
Comments: 5
Kudos: 15





	1. &. the beginning

**Author's Note:**

> yes hello i sure am back on my bullshit.
> 
> i've been having so much fun world building this and i am happy to share it. important note: the pokemon that belongs to mirajne with the exception of one (1) came from my friend azalia who was kind of enough to listen to my ideas and gave me some of hers. 
> 
> also as always, the types of pokemon of some characters (porlyusica, goldmine, ur) all came from Jana who also was kind enough to indulge me on listening to my rantings.

The sun is warm and Lucy knows that Turtwig is happy for it, at least. Lucy stands with a smile, her partner in her arms and watches as Natsu battlsd his opponent for the day: a fellow non-gym challenger named Totomaru. Lucy is well aware that both boys are going to go on the gym challenge tomorrow and both were so excited for it. Lucy just holds Turtwig a bit tighter (never too tight, but then again, Turtwig is a huge fan of affection) and watches as the battle plays out. Natsu got a new Pokemon for his birthday, a Chimchar that loves to climb everywhere and seems to join Natsu’s first Pokemon, a Swablu named Happy, on mischief. The three of them are going to be a blast to watch, Lucy thinks, as they plow through the gym challenge with gusto and mischeif.

(According to Natsu, Chimchar comes from the same Region that his cousin, Gajeel is from. Sinnoh. His dad's cousin, Metalicana sent it over because he, as well as anyone who knew Natsu Dragneel, was fully aware that this would be The Year he sets out. Mr. Dragneel was not impressed with the gifted pokemon that outshined his own gift, a RotomDex.)

Totomaru also has two Pokemon, a Torkoal and a Slugma. 

Turtwig is not a fan of all the fire Pokemon around, it seems. She preferred to stay tucked in with Lucy as the battle went on rather than cheer on Natsu's Pokemon as she normally did. It's fine, though, Lucy's cheers are loud enough for both.

Chimchar lands a critical hit on Totomaru’s Torkoal and the battle ends. Totomaru calls back his Torkoal but doesn't look too upset, and pays Natsu as Natsu begins to hoot and celebrate. His Chimchar and Happy mimicking his poses. For her part, Lucy smiles and laughs at the sight, Turtwig chirping in her arms.

“Luce! I’m feeling fired up for tomorrow!” Natsu runs towards her, Happy out of his ball and perching himself on Natsu’s head. A familiar look for them, really. “My dad is finally letting me go on my journey and I can’t wait! You have to come with, Lucy.”

Natsu’s eyes were pleading and this was a familiar song and dance between them now. Lucy met Natsu soon after she got Turtwig when he and his father, a dragon tamer from Johto, moved to Fiore. Lucy made the decision not to go on her Pokemon Gym Challenge when she was ten and Natsu’s was made for him by Mr. Dragneel. Five years later and this year, Natsu was given permission to venture off and Lucy...still hasn’t made any decision. If the past four years were anything to go by, she would watch Natsu drift away and become a Trainer.

Turtwig looks up at her and Lucy tries to smile at Natsu. “Congrats on your win, Natsu. I know you’ll do well on the gym challenge...and well. I don’t know, I haven’t made a decision yet.”

Natsu frowns but he lets it go: he was great at that _most_ of the time. He recognizes when Lucy wants to talk about something and when she didn’t. Happy floats from Natsu’s head and his soft wings landed right atop of Lucy’s and her and Natsu laugh at that. Happy’s wings were really soft, okay? 

“Well, if you do decide tomorrow or even ten years from now, I’ll still want to support you, okay?" Natsu tells her and she looks at his bright eyes, his support a bit overhwleming as much as it is calming. She knows she can always count on that, at least.

“I know, Natsu.” Lucy _would_ shake her head, but Happy was fed one to many berries, it seems. “And thank you too, Happy.”

Happy titters at her before flying back to Natsu. “I gotta go tell my dad about this win! Meet up tomorrow, Lucy?” Natsu asks and she nods.

“I’ll meet you in Magnolia center, Natsu. Right before Noon.” Even if she didn’t go on a journey, she would go with Natsu to register at the League Hall in Magnolia City. He would support her and she will support him.

Natsu grins at her before he runs off, Happy on his head. She watches them go for a bit before she turns off towards the direction of her home.

Lucy and her mother had always lived in Fiore, unlike Natsu. When her father died a few years ago, they moved from an opulent home in Magnolia City towards the city’s edge, right near Magnolia Forest. It was still a nice house, but closer to wild Pokemon and her Mom’s colleague, Professor Styrne. 

Professor Styrne herself lives in a home inside the Forest itself. There were no fancy homes inside the Forest, as it was one of the Protected grounds. To live inside meant to live with Pokemon, after all. But the Professor to Lucy seems happy to be a bit secluded. Lucy imagines it helps with both the Professor's Research and interacting with as little people as possible. The professor is something of a recluse nowadays, according to rumors. Lucy agrees a bit, but the Professor is one of the kinder people Lucy has met.

Professor Stryne was the one to gift Lucy with Turtwig when she turned ten (with her mother’s permission) and Lucy has been grateful to the Professor for that ever since. She can be a bit intimidating when annoyed, but Lucy does her best to not annoy her.

“Mom! I’m back!” Lucy calls as she enters her home. In the parlor, her mom and Professor Stryne sit at the tea table, cozy and comfortable with books and tea surrounding them both. Her mom looks happy to see her, a soft smile gracing Layla Heartfilia's face. The Pokemon Professor looks as dignified as ever, her pink hair pinned with an intricite hair pin atop her head. Her mom’s Snorlax was napping in the corner, as usual, his snores a soft background noise Lucy is used to. Professor’s Stryne Blissey makeshappy noises as Lucy enters more into the room. “Oh! Good afternoon, Professor.”

“Afternoon, Lucy. And hello to you, Turtwig.” Professor Stryne says to them and to Lucy’s mom, she adds, “I told you she would be back soon, Layla.”

“Oh, I know, you’re always right Porlyusica.” Her mom says and Lucy is surprised: why was her mom wondering when she’d be back? To Lucy, her mom says, “I was wondering how long watching Natsu’s battle would take. I wanted to ask you if you made a decision for this year?”

And that was a fair question. Her and her mom went through this every year and never has her Mom pushes her for a reason _why_ she said no. Nor has her mom made any implications that Lucy could see that she expects a yes or a no. It was just a door that was always open and an opportunity Lucy could take if she wants. 

It was Lucy who kept the door firmly shut.

“I…” Lucy looks between her Mom’s kind smile and Professor Stryne’s patient look, she bites the her lip, “I haven’t. I was actually going to go take a walk with Turtwig in the Forest to think about it. Plus, it’s sunny out and she likes to be outside.”

“Lovely!” Her mom claps. “Porlyusica and I were just throwing theories around anyway. Be careful out there, Lucy and do not wander off too far away, okay?”

The professor nods at this. “The deeper you go, the stronger the Pokemon. But, you should be fine by the lake area.”

Lucy nods. She knows all this but hey, they’re looking out for her and Turtwig so she shouldn’t be annoyed. “I will! And thank you!”

She leaves her house as quickly as she came. This time, Turtwig jumped from her arms and ran ahead of her and Lucy laughs and jogs to keep up. The more sun she has, the more energy Turtwig seems to have. It’s adorable as well as useful to know. 

The shier Pokemon in Magnolia forest tend to ignore her and Turtwig as they walk around. One Catterpie jumps out and Turtwig takes them down with a few tackles and growls. The pair continue their walk as Lucy looks around. 

Magnolia City may be big and bustling and so very close, but here it is peaceful. The woods are not as sunny with the amount of trees hanging overhead, but the sun always peaks through with little sunbeams that illuminate the area. Lucy and Turtwig make their way through the brush and Lucy picks around at some of the Berry trees around. 

(One thing she learned the hard way was to take no more than five from any tree, even the ones with a lot more. Wild Pokemon will come and they will Not be happy. So she has a system now, depending on the tree.)

Turtwig looks up at one of the pecha berries and Lucy laughs and gives one to her. “Here ya go, for being a good guide in the forest.”

Turtwig happily eats the berry and seems to shine for Lucy. Lucy bows at her jokingly and the pair carry on. 

They come across the clearing, where there is an opening in the trees so the Sun is much brighter. It leads towards a giant, freshwater Lake. There are little land spots at the Lake, but it would take a Pokemon to get her there and Lucy knows _that_ is where stronger Pokemon live: across the Lake. It is also near Professor Styrne's home, where Lucy has ventured once or twice with her mother as a guide.

Turtwig makes her home by the water and Lucy joins her, sitting by the Lakes edge and lounging in the Sun with her eyes closed. She can hear wild Pokemon about but they tend to just ignore her for now since she is not making much of a fuss. In the water, there were some Woopers playing in the water and she can hear Rickidee calling to each other in the sky overhead. She is sure there are a lot more Pokemon lounging around as well, just quieter than the more rambunctious ones.

It’s a peaceful day and Lucy is just far enough away from everyone else that she can calm her breathing and the fast paced beating of her heart. The idea of Natsu leaving leaves her bittersweet because she knows how excited he is. She knows. He’s been ready for years, it was just Mr. Dragneel who did not want his son to leave just yet. She overheard her Mom talking to Igneel a few years back and learned (by accident! She just wanted some fresh water for Turtwig since it helps her in Winter) that a big part of his fear was the death of his wife, Natsu’s mom. Her own mother understood that fear, but told him he should let Natsu make his own path. A few days later his father said Natsu can choose at fifteen.

And now they both were fifteen and the Gym Challenge is in season as the first day of Summer. But Lucy is still stuck in her indecision. Constantly unsure. What if she fails? What if she ends up letting down Turtwig? What if Turtwig is the only Pokemon that will ever follow her lead and they both crash and burn? What if Turtwig feels neglected after she gets more Pokemon? What if she succeeds but ends up as a bad trainer? What if, what if, what if, all these things haunt her.

She loves Pokemon, she can connect with some well. She thinks they're neat and having Turtwig makes her happier than ever. And she knows Turtwig enjoys battling a bit, if their walks in the forest are anything to go by but there is a difference between defending her trainer from Wild Pokemon and doing it competitively. Lucy knows this but she doesn’t know if Turtwig would enjoy the other.

“This is all too much for my head.” Lucy sighs and opens her eyes again. When she does, she jumps back a bit in alarm, getting up on her elbows.

There is a small flying Pokemon in front of her. She has never seen this Pokemon before. It has a yellow and white body with long yellow...hair? No, it’s a Pokemon, so fur and all green eyes. Turtwig does not seem to be alarmed which was comforting, but curious about it’s trainer’s reaction. Lucy blinked at the tittering, floating, Pokemon in front of her and she wished she had her Rotom phone with her so she could get her Dex out. 

“H-hey there…” Lucy speaks through her fear. The Pokemon seems happy at her acknowledgement and revealed its wings. The wings were gorgeous and so very long. They curled at the edges a bit where they thinned out. They reflected in the sunlight, it seemed every color possible reflected from the Pokemon's holographic wings. She also sees, poking out from behind the yellow tuft, a tail that seemed to vibrate constantly.

The Pokemon calls out yet again and this time, its wing let off...glitter? This gets all over Lucy and Turtwig and then the Pokemon teleports away. Stunned, Lucy shakes off some of the glitter as Turtwig follows her lead and does the same. She finds little yellow stardust crystals and she wondered if anyone has ever seen yellow stardust. She put them in her bag and looks around, it seems the wild Pokemon of the area just carried on as if normal.

“Turtwig...you saw that right? I’m not cracking and making this up, right?” she turns towards Turtwig who shakes off the last of the glitter and confirms with a yelp. Lucy breathes out and shakes her head. “At least I’m not going insane.”

A splash from the water startles her again and she almost expects that weird Pokemon from before, but instead, it was a blue Pokemon greeting her. Lucy coos down at it and bends down and offers her hand.

“Aw, arent you a playful thing, huh?” Lucy tells the Pokemon and she gently splashes back at the Pokemon, to its glee. She is pretty sure this is a Dratini, a rare thing to see in the Wild. And an indication that all the warnings of stronger Pokemon being around the Lake were true. The Dratini slithers out from the water to reveal it is...a lot bigger than Lucy expects. It's so long! The Dratini nudges at Lucy’s face and with it’s tail begins to play with Turtwig, who seems happy with this development.

Luckily, Lucy has her pokeballs. “Do you want to come home with me, you sweet Pokemon?” she asks and the Pokemon answers with another affectionate nudge. Lucy laughes catches the Dratini.

Today is weird, but she did get a new friend. Maybe she isn't as helpless as she thought. She repeats this out loud to Turtwig who gives her a sharp positive cry and she smiles.

She takes out her new Pokemon, Dratini, who seems happy and she places her hands on her hips. There was a firm feeling of determination in her stance, as if she was a famous trainer like the region’s reigning champion, Makarov Dreyar.

“Okay guys, let’s train up! Welcome to the family, Dratini!” 

Dratini and Turtwig both look excited and Lucy feeds off of that. Maybe she should go on that adventure after all.


	2. let the world see us now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Registration Day for the gym challenge is here! Natsu is hoping to lead off in the Mavis Path and Lucy makes a choice. They also meet two formidable trainers at the Magnolia League Hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. It's been a rough 2020 for me to begin with, but I am back and have this chapter out for you guys!

With the morning sun comes an unfounded enthusiasm within Lucy. She truthfully has never been so excited about the Gym Challenge before now. Beforehand, it was always with worry did she think about it, avoiding mother and Professor’s Styrne’s eyes. Even though both have been supportive no matter what. _But_! Today was different! She lets Dratini out of his ball as she hops down the stairs, her pokemon slithering behind her. 

“Lucy! Good morning,” her mom greets. She bends down and scritches Dratini’s chin, who is happy with the attention. “And a lovely morning to you, too, Dratini.” Her mother stands and puts her hand on her hips, a smile gracing her face. “I packed this bag with as much stuff I could think of, Lucy. Potions, money, antidotes, camping gear--everything I could think of.”

Lucy smiles at her mom. “Thank you, Mom. But you didn’t have to do... _all_ of this.”

“Nonsense!” her mother argues immediately. Layla reaches for her daughter and gave her the best thing Lucy could ever think of: a hug. Lucy melts into the touch, feeling like she was a little kid again. Her mom had that power. Dratini wraps it's tail around Lucy's ankle for a moment, an effort to be involved as well.

Her mom kisses her forehead and lets go, smiling down at her. “I’m so proud of you, always. You remember to have fun, alright? And call me every now and then.”

Lucy laughs and nods. “I will!” She reaches for the well packed back of her mother and straps it around her shoulder, letting it rest at her side. She felt, for the first time in a long time, ready. “I’m ready! Are you, Dratini?”

Dratini wiggles and called out, already heading for the door. Lucy follows after the example of her pokemon, hope and excitement bubbling in her chest. 

The streets of Magnolia are filled with pokemon trainers, some established people were walking about and others, those like Lucy who are just beginning. The majority of them are a bit younger than her, as most kids start when they’re ten, but others were not so young and that made Lucy feel a bit better for well. Waiting.

“Lucy!!” She hears and she turns to see a familiar head of pink hair and atop of it, a small swablu calling after her as well. Natsu makes his appearance then. Several onlookers observe the scene and Lucy feels her face flush as people look at her as well. She feels relaxed, though, when her best friend is in front of her.

“You told me you had something to tell me, what was it?” Natsu asks before he crashes into her. He looks excited, his eyes alight, as if he somehow knew what Lucy decided yesterday afternoon, in that forest, with a new pokemon at her side. 

“Well...I decided to do the gym challenge.” She reveals with a smile and Natsu jumps up in excitement.

“I knew it! Dad told me to stop pestering you about it, that it was rude, but I _knew_ if I just asked enough you would!” Natsu and Happy both seem to cheer for now and Lucy giggls and looked away, down at Dratini who seems happy enough to let his tail wrap around Lucy’s wrist. It feels good. Like she is being protected.

“I’m going on the Mavis path!” Natsu goes on to tell her. “They say that Makarov tends to pay more attention to the trainers who go down that and I want him to know who I am before I beat him as champion.”

That was something of a truth: it was an open secret. Champion Makarov Dreyar tends to favor those in the Mavis Path. She wasn’t sure why, she never heard a reason. It made her nervous, she just wants to have fun and grow more bonds with her pokemon. She doesn't have the aspirations that Natsu had---to be a Champion. 

“I’ve decided to go on the Zeref path,” Lucy tells him, surprising herself as well as Natsu. With her free hand she brushes some hair from her eyes, “Seems like it’s less pressure.”

Natsu’s grin becomes sharp. “You know what this means, Lucy?” _Oh no,_ Lucy thinks but it was too late as he immediately followed that up with, “Battle time! Before we go to the League hall and register!”

Lucy sighs. She supposes it is inevitable. She looks down at Dratini and asks, “You ready?”

Dratini unwrapps his tail from Lucy’s wrist and moves in front of her with a roar. Happy flies off of Natsu’s head and the battle begins in Magnolia square.

“Dratini---start us off with Extreme Speed!” Lucy calls out. Dratini, in a blue blur, moves quickly and lands a hit on Happy. Not one to be deterred, Happy takes the hit but was back in the air, hovering over Dratini.

“Happy, use Fury Attack!” Natsu orders. Happy flies down and used his beak to hit Dratini four successful times, giving a lot of successive damage. Lucy curls her fingers together and thought fast.

“Dratini, used Thunder wave.” The move hits and Happy is paralyzed, no longer hovering in the air. When Natsu tries to have Happy use Peck, Happy can't move. Lucy grins and ordered, “Dratini, twister!”

Dratini moves quickly and roars, a small twister forming from his power. Dratini knocks it over to Happy with his tail and the Twitster hits Happy head on. Now both Pokémon were breathing hard, Happy more so under the paralysis. Natsu does not seem as nervous as Lucy feels in the moment. “Happy, finish ‘im off with a peck!”

“Draitni--” she tries to call, but Happy is fast. The Peck lands, even with the paralysis and takes Dratini out with a critical hit. 

Lucy smiles, though, and called Dratini back. “You did amazing, Dratini. I’m proud.” She puts the pokéball to her hip and calls out for Turtwig. “Let’s finish Happy off Turtwig!”

Turtwig stands as tall as she can in the sun and when Lucy calls out for a quick move: “Tackle, Turtwig!” and Turtwig moves as fast as she can and landes a hit on the paralyzed Happy.

Happy faints and Natsu grins as he calls back his pokémon. “You did great, Happy! And you’re doing good too, Lucy!” 

Lucy smils at him, a happy flush on her face. It almost feels fun, now that she thinks about it. It's just her and Natsu, with their pokémon. Natsu sends out Chimchar, who, ever the excitable pokémon, immediately does a handstand. Turtwig looks back at her and seems to say _Can I please knock him off?_

Lucy laughs and says, “Alright, Turtwig, use Razor leaf!” She knows there was a type effectiveness now more so than Happy vs Turtwig, but she feels they could still put up a good fight and win. Turtwig’s razor leaf knocks Chimchar off his handstand and he answers with an a scratch, but Turtwig dodges.

“Turtwig, use withdraw!” she orders and Turtwig goes into her shell. The next Ember hit hard, but with the heightened defense, it doesn't do as much damage as it could have. Lucy orders an absorb, which hits and Turtwig gets some health back. Not enough to stand strong after a dead-on ember. Turtwig faints and Lucy is surprised to find herself still smiling.

“You put up a great fight, Turtwig.” She tells her pokémon. Natsu highfives his Chimchar and runs over to her. 

“You were great, Lucy! That was a closest battle I’ve had in awhile.” Natsu tells her. Lucy still finds herself smiling. A bit sweaty after thinking fast and moving around in the same place, but hey, it happens!

“Thank you, it was….fun? Weirdly.” Lucy tells him. She reachs in her bag to pay him off, but Natsu shakes his head.

“No need to pay me, Lucy. We’re rivals, after all. Next time we meet up, just buy me lunch!” Natsu beams and Lucy laughs.

“That’s the deal for us then, whoever wins, buys food.” Lucy promises and Natsu nods in agreement. He throws an arm around her shoulder and together, newly forge rivals make their way to the League Hall in Magnolia Center. Luckily, there's a Pokemon Center inside.

With their Pokemon healed up, Natsu and Lucy walk towards the registration station. One side is for those who would take the Mavis Path and the other, for those who would take the Zeref Path.

The main difference between these two paths were the gyms you would meet. Gym Leaders like Erza, Jura, Hibiki and of course, Laxus, were all staples to the Gym Challenge. You would meet them no matter what. However, in the Zeref path, you met gym leaders like Sherry Blendy or Rogue Cheney. The final gym leader was the main difference, though. In the Mavis path you met Mystogan Fernandes and in the Zeref path you met Jellal Fernandes. They were twins and both blasted through the league when they did the challenge and made names for themselves on a scale that was previously unheard of since Laxus Dreyar did the league. And Laxus was always the one gym trainers went to before the Fernandes twins. You couldn’t even attempt to challenge them without his Raging Bolt badge.

 _It's scary no matter wha_ t, Lucy thinks.

But the line, she notices, for the Zeref path is a bit shorter than the one for the Mavis path. Registration will not be very long, then. She just has to show her trainer card and get a stamp with the black symbol of the legendary Pokemon, Zeref. 

Lucy waits to the side, Turtwig out of her ball and sat by her feet, busy eating the berry Lucy gave her. She's just waiting for Natsu before she goes out and does anything else. Her trainer card had two of her Pokemon on it: Turtwig and Dratini, with her picture and name. _Lucy Heartfilia_ a challenger of the Zeref Path. 

If it wasn’t so tangible in front of her, she wouldn't believe that it was actually happening. 

Turtwig makes a noise that distracts Lucy from her thoughts and she looks to see Turtwig sniffing an Absol that wandered over to them. The disaster-sensing Pokemon sent Lucy on edge---was this all really going to be a disaster???---but then, it seems to just be more curious about them than anythign else. 

“Hello there,” Lucy offers her hand to the Absol and it sniffs her and allowed her to pet it, to Lucy's glee. “You are very well trained, aren’t you?”

“She is.” A man’s voice says and Lucy looks up fom the Absol to the source. He was tall, with an impressive beard and has a dark purple coat curling him. She recognizes him, but she can't tell from where right away. “A tough girl but, she does not like battle much so I mostly have her with me when I’m travelling.”

An Absol that doesn’t like to fight? Lucy smiles. She _knew_ she recognizes him. He's one of the Elite Four: Ivan Dreyar. He is also the son of Makarov Dreyar and of Professor Styrne. _I wonder if he's going to visit the Professor_ , Lucy thinks.

“She’s very nice, Mr. Dreyar.” Lucy tells him as she continues to pet his Absol. 

Ivan Dreyar smirks. “I wondered if you would recognize me. You’re Heartfilia's daughter, correct? I’ve met your mother a few times---you look like her. And that Turtwig of your’s...my mother gifted you her."

Lucy nods. “I am very grateful for Professor Styrne's support. She’s always been very kind to me.” 

Ivan Dreyar nods slowly, his eyes alight with interest and...something else. “My mother never has hope in people she feels is a loss cause. I was on my way to visit her but then I was reminded of my duties as a League official and came to oversee the first day of the challenge. What path did you pick?”

“The Zeref path.” Lucy answers and she reaches into her pocket to present her League Card. “It’s kind of...unbelievable.”

“It’s merely your first step, a big one, yes, but just the first.” He does not seem to comment on her path. Before either of them can exchange more words, a young woman, with white hair held back in a ponytail and martial arts wraps around her arms, approaches the pair. She has a Pokemon in her arms, a blue and black one with its eyes covered. _A Deino_ , Lucy realizes with wonder.

“Are you already trying to pick a new person to train? You’re not even done with me, yet, old man.” The young woman says. She's quite abrasive, Lucy notes. And a bit intimating and very pretty.

“I assumed you were going to fight your little rival, Mirajane.” Dreyar says and he looks at Lucy and waves his hand. “Lucy, this is Mirajane. I am currently training her, Mirajane, this is Lucy. Her mother is Layla Heartfilia and she just began her own journey.”

Lucy waves at the trainer. Mirajane. She knows that name, she has a famous rivalry with Magnolia’s own Erza Scarlet. 

“Nice to meet you,” Mirajane says, her earlier attitude replaced with something like kindness. At Ivan, her face twists into annoyance and Mirajane adds, “Erza is not worth my time. It’s the first day of the league challenge, she’s out there battling little brats.”

Ivan seems amused by this. “I am proud to already see my efforts have not gone to waste, Mirajane, if you are already picking and choosing your battles.”

Mirajane seems affronted at this and Lucy isn't sure if she wants to laugh or not at her expression. She's saved from this indecision by Natsu barreling towards her. He waves his own Trainer Card as he runs over and Lucy smiles at him as he skids to a stop before her, seemingly noticing she was in the company of others. He ignores them at first though in favor of Lucy. “Luce! Look! We’re both officially gym challengers,” he rubs his hand behind his head, “I think you had the right idea, though. The line for the Mavis path was super long.”

“That’s because people are boring.” Mirajane comments. She winks at them though. “So, newbies, eh? Wanna battle?”

Ivan sighs. “Just when I thought it was going well…”

Natsu seems pumped up. “I’m always ready to battle!”

“Natsu, this is Mirajane. She’s _not_ going to be an easy win like I was.” Lucy whispers to her friend. She's attempting to save him from himself. A duty of friendship. 

“Luce, you’re an idiot if you think you’re an easy win.” Natsu tells her. He looks back at Mirajane, who’s Deino was now on the ground and wiggling, as if ready for a fight. “I accept your challenge!”

“Do you two wanna make it one on two?” Mirajane offers with a shrug. “Might be easier.”

Lucy shakes her head. “I know when I’m outclassed.” She steps aside, Turtwig and the Absol following her. 

Ivan Dreyar takes the burden upon himself to be a responsible adult and says, “Outside you two, if you are going to battle.” He rubs his beard and adds, “and I will be the referee. Mavis knows you will need it.”

“I might as well watch Natsu get pummeled.” Lucy says more to herself than anything. Turtwig chirps at her and she bends down and picked her up and follows the trio. Absol keeps pace with her. “I don’t think he realizes that Mirajane is a future Elite Four, after all.”

In the end, Mirajane’s Deino---Tuft, or Tuffers was his nickname, apparently, beats both Happy and Chimchar. Ivan Dreyar heals up Natsu’s pokémon for him and turns to them both. “It was nice meeting you two, I am sure I will see you both at the Plateau by the end of Winter.”

“It was a fun battle, Natsu.” Mirajane tells him. “The way you fight with your Pokemon shows a real bond.” She turns to Lucy. “Next time, we can battle each other.” Lucy feels terrified at the idea but nods shakily anyway.

And the pair of trainers were off, leaving Natsu and Lucy behind. Absol gave her one last nip before she follows her trainer. Lucy turns to Natsu, who despite having been beaten, seems way too excited.

“That was an amazing, battle, Lucy!” Natsu tells her. He grabs her shoulders. “I’m all fired up, now! I want to go all the way to Iris Town and beat Mystogan now!” Natsu lets go of her shoulders and waved at her, “See ya, Lucy!”

Before Lucy can stop him, to remind him that he at least needs the Raging Bolt badge before he goes there, he was off. She sighs to herself. _Well, he’ll find out on his own_ , she thinks to herself. 

At her feet once more, Turtwig makes a sound up at her and Lucy nods. “He is very determined, isn’t he?” She shakes her head. Well, he was her best friend. She would support him even if he was Like That.

“I suppose we should take the much easier route, hm?” She turns and looks at the steel tower that was Magnolia’s city gym. It was run by the Steel Maiden, Erza Scarlet. “That’s our first stop.”

Turtwig runs around in a little circle and calls out, excited for the challenge. Lucy can't help but smile back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaand here we are introduced to: the gym challenge, an elite four memeber and ofc mirajane. since lisanna never died in this, mirajane is basically what she would have been like if she grew up still a punk rocker. her pokemon are mainly dark/fighting types. that's why she wears bandages on her arms, cos she fights a lot. 
> 
> thank you if you stuck by here! chapter three is mostly written as well! :D


	3. the knight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy's nerves get the better of her, luckily she has two supporters who won't give up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....hello. don't worry, i didn't forget about this and i was hit with inspiration to continue writing. here is chapter three and i'm working on the next few chapters so don't worry! 2020 has been rough. i promise to get better at writing pokemon battles, but it's harder than i expected.

Lucy felt so sure, about ten minutes ago, that it was time to go into the gym and start the challenge officially. But then. She got there. And looked at the door. And she looked. And she did not go in and she began to pace around. Curious, Turtwig looks up at her as she began to pace around and that was a few minutes ago.

What if she went in and lost? She already lost to Natsu today. She didn’t want to put her pokémon in danger again. Even if it was somewhat in their nature to fight. What if they grew to hate and resent her for always losing? What if she just made a fool of herself, of her pokémon, of her mother’s name before she even got to begin? Her stomach clenches and in a quick move, she calls back Turtwig and makes a run for it towards Magnolia forest. She easily moves through the crowds of Magnolia and towards the edges, away from civilization, away from everyone. It's second nature for her to find her place here, where she spent so much of her life. The wild pokémon in this part of the forest all recognize her and she doesn't even stop at the berry trees.

Once she is back in the clearing she found the day before, she takes out both her Pokemon and she bows deeply to them. “I am so sorry, you guys. I just. I don’t know if I can really do it.” 

Her pokémon look at each other and then they seem to come to an agreement. Lucy, obvlivous to their agreement, watches with a curious expression as they began to...battle each other? She looks as they work hard to counter each other and hit each other and she blinks at them a bit fumbly as they continue. Turtwig moves as fast as she can, even though Dratini is the faster of the two of them. Dratini works hard too, to hit as hard as he can through Turtwig’s defenses. Lucy sits back, dumfounded, watching them as they fight so without conferring to her at all. Slowly, a smile shone on her face. She gets their message: they believe in each other and by extension--they believe in Lucy.

She stands up once more and they stop to look at her. She nods at them. “Alright, if you guys think we can, I do too. Why don’t we train here for a bit, then?” 

Dratini and Turtwig stand at attention and call out to her. She smiles back at them, her eyes filling a bit with happy tears. They can do this. She stands firm in this belief now. If she can't believe in herself, she can at least believe in her pokémon. 

For the rest of the afternoon, she trains with her pokémon. She's a bit sweaty, which was kind of gross, but it means she was working out. The local wild pokémon all come out, eager to battle as well, and she left them all berries as thank yous. If Turtwig can take down a flying pokémon, who had a type effectiveness advantage, then she is sure they could do well in a gym, with strategy and will on their side. 

Confident once more, she leaves Magnolia Forest towards the Pokémon center. She has to freshen herself up as well as her pokémon before she really lets her journey begin. They all can look good and battle..

In the solitude of the bathroom, she practices the same pose she's seen Makarov Dreyar doing on the screen. A hand on her hip and the other high in the air above her head, her thumb and pointer finger out. For some reason, it gives her confidence. She imagines Natsu’s reaction when she will tell him she got a gym badge and that helps to. With renewed determination, as the sun sets in the sky, she makes her way towards the Steel Tower.

Steel Tower was called that because of the Steel Maiden, Erza Scarlet had it constructed from steel. It was a tall, cylinder building and seemed smooth and shiny on the surface but held a strength beneath it. Lucy swallows and enters it, the opening area had trainers, some crying with their pokémon comforting them and others milling about, talking to one another. Lucy swallows and walks, with Dratini next to her, towards the Greeter, a man name Macao. He directs her quickly through the crowd and she enters the main area.

She's distantly aware that each gym has some sort of puzzle but. It seemed? This gym...did not? There was a gym trainer, all in the silver uniform of the Steel-type waiting in front of her. This one has a beard and sunglasses on his face.

“Hey-oh! I’m Wally and your first challenge in the Steel tower is to defeat me!” he calls out his pokemon, a Bronzor. 

“I’m Lucy and I’m ready for your challenge!” She tells him. She sent out Dratini and the battle begins.

Apparently, Erza Scarlet is not the best at puzzles, Wally tells her as he gives her money. The puzzle is to just. Defeat three trainers before going against Erza. He looks a little sheepish as he explains this to her. Lucy quietly thinks she'd prefer a puzzle over this anyway. She swallows and move along to the next challenge.

It's a dark-skinned boy named Shô who introduces himself next. He seems younger than Wally, but just as energized. He has a Rookidee that Dratini takes care of and Dratini seems happy with the results, his pose of victory so adorable Lucy gushes, just a bit. She takes a photo with her Rotemdex.

“That was a fun battle! Guess I gotta train more!” Shô tells her with a beaming smile. “Up next is Simon, and well...he and Erza are close. If you can beat him maybe you have a chance against Erza!”

"Thanks! Your pokémon were very cute by the way!" Lucy tells him before she makes her way through the next level. She breathes in and our and gives Dratini a potion on their way up to the level before Erza.

The door opens and Lucy steps out, Dratini next to her. Simon is very tall, Lucy notes. And muscular. He wears some type of headguard and Lucy notes that underneath, he wears an eyepatch. She knows it's rude to stare, so she tries not to and prepared herself for this challenge. 

Unlike the others, Simon seems to be rather quiet as they battle, but his pokémon listen intently to his quiet tone. His Bronzor is the stronger one of the two that Lucy and her team fights. His Galran Meowth goes down with a soft cry and Simon callsthem back, Turtwig breathing hard in front of her.

“Next up is the Steel Maiden, Erza. Good luck.” Was all Simon says as he gives her his winnings. Lucy gulps.

She goes onto the last elevator and it's longer than the others as she reaches the end of the tower. As she steps out it's just a field made for battle and on the otherside is a chair. Erza Scarlet sits there, looking almost regal as she does. She has beautiful, long red hair and wears a full suit of knight’s armor and even has a sword at her side. She smiles down at Lucy, but Lucy does not see kindness in her smile: she sees a challenge, something to aspire to. Lucy feels herself blush a little under the intense attention of Erza Scarlet. The ever famed Steel Maiden stands from her chair and walks forward. “I will allow you to heal your pokémon before you challenge me.”

Lucy nods, a bit flustered and heals both of her pokémon. She feels the pressure on her shoulders as she stands back up, but she refuses to back down. She has her pokémon and they have her. She breathes out and smiles. Dratini goes back in his ball and Turtwig silent steps up. Lucy feels herself shudder a bit, but she smiles anyway.

If Erza notes Lucy's nervousness, she doesn't say. Her smile stayes on her face as she called out her first pokémon: another Bronzor.

“Turtwig, use curse!” Lucy calls out. At the same time, Erza calls out for a Confusion. With Turtwitg’s attack and defense up, it doesn't do as much damage as it could have and with luck, Lucy notes that her Turtwig isn't confused. Damage was taken, though. Bronzor uses tackle, which Turtwig just manages to dodge. “Turtwig, absorb!”

She knows it won't not be as effective as other moves, but it does get Turtwig some health back. When Bronzor does to use Confusion again, it hit once more, and luck is still on their side as it doesn't confuse Turtwtig. Lucy has Turtwig use Tackle, which hurts more thanks to the curse. Turtwig dodges a confuse ray and hits back with a not very effective razor leaf, but it does enough damage. Once Turtwtig was hit with another tackle, Lucy has Turtwig use another absorb.

Both pokémon are rather tired now. Lucy can see Erza across the field, contemplating her next move and Lucy she worries in case the gym leader used a potion. Instead, she surprises Lucy by calling for a gyro ball. Turtwig is down by a lot now, but with a look back at Lucy, she could see how determined Turtwig is to finish this battle on her own terms. Lucy smiles back at Turtwig, a renewed determination in both trainer and pokémon.

“Go for another tackle, Turtwig!” Lucy calls and Turtwig runs after the Bronzor and jumps as fast and hard as she could; her shell and head hitting the Bronzor hard with a critical hit. Lucy whoops for Turtwig, who turns her head and flashes Lucy a proud look as well. _Good,_ Lucy thinks, _she should be proud._

“You are a worthy opponent, Lucy Heartfilia.” Erza Scarlet calls back her Bronzor and nods, as if reaffirming this. “But this battle is not over yet!” 

Before them came a Honedge. The sword-looking steel-ghost type hovers in the air. “Turtwig, absorb!” Lucy calls out.

“Honedge, Shadow Sneak.” Erza’s voice cut through the air. After Turtwig absorbs her opponent, it disappears. Lucy calls for another curse as she waits for the pokémon to reappear. As the curse lifted attack and defense again, Honedge appears behind Turtwig’s shadow and knocks out Turtwig with one hit.

Lucy sighs, feeling bad for Turtwig instantly and calls her back in her ball. “You did wonderful out there.” She reminds her pokémon. She put her pokéball back to her hip and takes out Dratini’s, “Let’s finish this off, Dratini!”

Dratini is in the battlefield now and Lucy calls out, “Dragon rage!” Dratini moves forward and with a roar, hiting the opposing Honedge head on with the move. Honedge answers back with an aerial ace that hits Dratini. Lucy has Dratini use a thunder wave which works to paralyze Honedge, that makes Lucy cheer Dratini on. The next attack misses due to the paralysis and Lucy has him follow up with another Dragon Rage.

 _Honedge is part ghost, so Extreme Speed and Wrap can’t hit him,_ Lucy reminds herself. She can't risk missing a turn because she forgot something so simple. Dratini breathes hard as the battle rages on and he dodges the following Aerial Ace and hit back with a hard dragon rage. 

It becomes a tough battle and across the way, Erza calls out, “There’s more to us steel-types than attacks!” And Honedge uses automize, which makes it faster. Now Honedge can go first, no matter how quick Dratini was naturally.

But they were both low on health, Lucy reminds herself. “Don’t worry, Dratini! You have this!” She encourages her Pokemon. Dratini seems to hear her and nods a bit and readies for the next attack. A slash that Dratini takes on bravely. He answers the slash with one last Dragon Rage and knocks out Honedge.

The battle is over and Lucy beams jumps in excitment. Tired, but feeling the thrill, Dratini slithers over to her and accepts the easy affection Lucy gives him. “You fought so well, Dratini! Thank you. You can rest now.” She takes out her Dratini's pokéball and let it rest at her hip. 

Across the field, Erza Scarlet nods at her. Lucy walks closer, careful of the wreckage their battle brought to the fighting ground and stands before the Knight. “You and your pokémon fought well and hard in my gym. I give you the Knight’s Badge to commemorate our battle together.” 

The badge was made of steel and had three red dots on it, one with a lance, one with a sword and the other with a shield on it. Lucy smiles at it and adds it to her badge collected. The first of many, she hopes.

“Keep believing in your pokémon and in yourself and you can do great things, Lucy Heartfilia.” Erza tells her. She pats Lucy’s back with such force that Lucy almost falls over. She was sure it would bruise.

“Thank you, Erza…” Lucy said as she struggled to stand. Man, she was strong! Must be the armor. Erza flashes her a genuine smile.

At the Pokémon Center, Lucy heals her pokémon and enjoys the cafe area where they had a set up for trainers. She takes the rejuvenated Turtwig and Dratini out of their pokéballs and feels them as she eats. It's too early in jer journey for her to go through Route Three and one part of Hades Cavern to get to Route 13 to go to Iris Town. She isn't Natsu, after all. There are two ways to get there---from the Ferry or through the dark and gloomy Hades Cavern which spreads through a lot of the Region. For now, she can go through Route 2 and continue on through there.

Her Rotomdex phone goes off and she reaches for it and smiles when she sees Natsu on the screen. She answers and smiles at her best friend and happily notes that Happy was resting on his head. “Yo! Lucy! Turns out, I can’t just skip to Mystogan like I wanted.”

“I tried to tell you that, Natsu.” Lucy shakes her head fondly at him and adds, “Did you go to a different gym?”

“Nah, figured I’d find some easy place like that Gray guy.” Natsu shrugs. “He’s an ice loser, my fire can melt him any day!”

Lucy laughs. “Natsu! Don’t be so unsportsmanlike. These gym leaders are on another level.”

Natsu scoffs. “Yeah, yeah, you still in Magnolia?”

Lucy nods and sipped her tea. “I beat Erza, actually.”

Natsu’s face took over the entire screen and she flinches as he yells, “GO Lucy!!! I told you, you’d be great! Now I gotta go get a gym badge so we can have another rival match! See ya!” He hangs up on her and suddenly, it's so quiet. 

Lucy sighs and closes her phone. She could go home and sleep the night at her house, or she can continue onwards as dusk fell. She taps the table and looked at her pokémon, who were now playfully nipping at one another.

 _If I go home now, will I ever leave again?_ She wonders. Decision made, she double checks her bag for camping gear that her mom packed. It’s all there and Lucy knows how to use it -- her mom sometimes took her out for camping in the Summertime. 

“Well, guys, when you’re ready we can head on out.” Lucy tells her pokémon and they both looked over at her. Lucy smiles. “You both did great today and there’s more to be seen!”

Dratini and Turtwig both chirp at her and Lucy laughs. She's ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for fun, here is (the best i could make) of lucy's trainer card at this point in the story!


	4. hargeon port

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy is forced into up for a lifelong duty of protection as she ventures towards Hargeon Port.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still not done with this don't worry! But updates are slower than my other fairy tail story.

It’s not dark yet when Lucy enters Route 2 and for that, she’s grateful—she doesn’t mind travelling in the dark but it does leave her extra paranoid. Especially when wild pokemon jump out at her. She happily makes her way through the path, some wild pokémon pop out at her and Turtwig seems to glow when she tackles after them. Dratini tends to stay closer than anything else and Lucy lets him wrap around her as much as he wants. 

Lucy gets excited at finding a berry tree and she goes off the road and climbs a little ledge, Dratini next to her and helps Turtwig so they both can follow after her. Lucy smiles and plucks some of the berries, never more than five, and takes two oran berries, two occa berries and one wepear berry. She turns to her pokémon and smiles brightly, “These Occa berries will come in handy, Turtwig. We used them before, remember? It helps you when you’re hit with fire. Here, hold onto it.” She bends down and offers it to Turtwig who happily takes it. Dratini bends down and sniffs at the Oran berry and Lucy playfully swats at his head.

“Here, you can hold onto this. If you’re hurt in battle, eat it and it’ll heal you up.” She tells Dratini, as if it needs to know. But Dratini still chirps happily as it takes it.

Lucy looks up at the sky to see how much daylight they have left. The orange of the sunset is bleeding into purple and it makes for a picturque sight. She wonders if it’s being out of the city that makes it look even better. Lucy sighs happily and stands up and stretches her arms a bit. “I suppose we can set up camp around here, the ground is soft.” She glances at the berry tree. “Er..maybe not right next to a berry tree, though.”

A few paces away, Lucy begins to set up camp. There’s a nice little lake near and Lucy thinks the aesthetic fits  _ quite  _ nicely. As she begins to set up an area, Dratini bobs his head into the water before he slithers in and Turtwig joins him by the edge of the water but doesn’t step in. Lucy is happy about that — Turtwig and swimming does not always end up well, they’ve learned over the years. Probably something to do with the shell. Once her camp is set up, Lucy smiles at a job well done and turns around back towards the lake, the sunset and her happy pokemon.

She feels like a suburban mom, but it doesn’t stop her from taking out her Rotemdex and snapping a video. Dratini is splashing around in the lake as Turtwig runs around and playfully dodges the water from Dratini. She watches it over and her laughter, the sounds of splashing and her pokemon’s chirps are the soundtrack over it. She sends it over to her Mom with the accompanied text:  _ Almost time to turn it! _

Immediately, her mom responds:  _ They look so happy and healthy! Already saved it. _

Soon, though, the night begins to creep up on them making it darker. Turtwig waddles up to her as Dratini slithers out from the water and playfully gets Lucy’s stockings wet.

“You’re being naughty.” Lucy chides softly, but Dratini just blinks as if he’s never done anything wrong his entire life. For the first time and probably the last, Lucy disagrees. She shakes her head and heads into the tent. It’s not long before Turtwig follows after her and a bit more dry Dratini slithers in. Turtwig curls next to her and around them, Dratini lounges to his full length. Here, Lucy feels safe, happy and loved as she falls asleep.

◓

The next morning, Lucy wakes up and hears noises outside. She sits up, Turtwig mirroring her but Dratini absent. Fear shoots through Lucy as she takes in the noises and the missing pokémon and she scrambles outside of her tent but breathes a sigh of relief when she realizes that the noises are just Dratini splashing in the water.

“You scared me!” Lucy says and she stands up. It’s early in the morning, the unjust sun rising from the sky and making her squint from the light. It’s a nice warm Summer morning at least and Lucy decides to forgive the brightness. Just this once, though.

Lucy begins to set up a small cooking pot to make something like breakfast (her Mom packed her food and manuals for cooking out in the wilderness, thankfully) and mentally plan out the next leg of her travels. Continuing on route two would help her get to the next part of the gym challenge. And there’s bound to be more trainers and pokemon waiting for them.

As the smell of her food fills the air, Dratini slithers out from play and Turtwig stays next to her, sniffing the pot. Lucy gives them looks and says, “Be patient guys,  _ this  _ is human food. Here.” She stops her stirring and rummages in her bag and takes out some of the pokémon food. This just alerts her pokémon more and they begin to chirp at her in various ways. Lucy sighs, but smiles as she gets out the bowl for them. “So impatient. I spoil you, I really do.”

She pours them some food and both of them are rather good at not getting in the other’s way as they eat. Lucy motions to go back to her own meal, but hears splashing and is alarmed when she spots a Magikarp flop it’s way over. Dratini and Turtwig don’t seem very threatened by the splashing pokémon but it is making it’s way over to her. Lucy peers at it wordlessly and mutters, “What are you doing, huh?”

Lucy looks at her food, her eating Pokémon and then back at the Magikarp, quickly adding up what’s happening. Before she can offer it food, though, the Magikarp jumps into the air at her, colliding into her. She screeches as the flopping fish pushes her onto the ground and continues flopping on her stomach.

“No! Wait!”

This is what alerts Dratini and Turtwtig from their feast and both her pokémon rise up from their meal as Magikarp flops atop of Lucy. They seem to be at an impasse though, because if they attack the interloper, they can hurt Lucy. 

Lucy makes the first move. She stretches one arm and twists her body to shift the Magikarp off of her and manages to reach out and grab some of the food in her hand. She sits up on her knees and offers it over to the fish. “Here, you don’t have to jump on me for it.”

Magikarp’s mouth encases Lucy’s hands, causing her to squeal as the inside of Magikarp’s mouth slobber all over her hand to get at the offering, “Ew no! No! No!” 

Lucy wiggles her hand out and stands up, Magikarp flopping on the ground below her. She stares into the pokémon’s eyes and frowns. “You want more food?” She asks and the Magikarp just. Flops. 

“Typical.” She sighs and pours some more food into the bowl. Dratini and Turtwig watch closely but allow it to happen. Lucy, meanwhile, grabs a towel from her bag and wipes her hand from Magikarp’s mouth. She’s not very happy when she finds out her soup is a little...burned. How could she have  **burned** soup?!

“I want to pretend this didn’t happen.” Lucy says to no one as she watches the three pokémon relax somewhat after being fed. She sighs into her own sad, burned soup. “Natsu can never know.  _ Mom  _ can never know. Definitely not Professor Styrne. I’d never be able to look at them in eye.”

After meals, the Magikarp stays with them, to Lucy’s surprise. She’s still in a state of surprise when she packs up her camp and the Magikarp stays with them. She catches the pokemon’s eyes and sees an expectant look.

Accepting her fate, Lucy takes out a pokéball and asks, “Want to travel with us?”

The Magikarp, predictably, flops but it seems a bit faster. Lucy shakes her head with a smile and catches the Magikarp. Lucy puts Magikarp on her side and calls in Dratini as well. Once packed, her and Turtwig make their way back towards the main road of Route 2.

There are a lot more trainers out here than the day before, Lucy notices immediately. One boy, a younger one in a school uniform points at her as they make eye contact. “Hey! I saw you earlier getting bullied by a Magikarp!”

Lucy opens her mouth, about to let him know that just because he’s a kid doesn’t mean she won’t destroy him utterly, when her hip jostles a bit and Magikarp is back out, flopping before them. Just to add to Lucy’s mortification. 

“Magikarp, wait!” Lucy can’t even get a proper response out before the schoolboy sends out an Azurill. At her feet, Turtwig watches in fascination. 

“Azzy, slam!” the schoolboy yells and the azurill makes an admittedly cute noise and slams itself into Magikarp.

Magikarp...just. Flops and uses splash. It’s enough to shake Lucy out of her shock and she shakes her head and gets ready to call Magikarp back, but before she can, the Azrull hits Magikarp with a bubble beam.

“Magikarp, get back here!” Lucy calls and she summons her newest member back into its Pokéball and waves her hand, “Turtwig, tackle!”

Turtwig jumps into the fray and follows her commands and tackles into Azurill with her hard shell. Azurill seems taken aback but follows up with another slam into Turtwig and wordlessly, Turtwig hits back with a super effective absorb and gets her health back. It also manages to knock out Azurill which Lucy is thankful for.

“Good job!” Lucy tells Turtwig, who happily accepts the praise. Lucy thumbs Magikarp’s Pokéball and says, “You too, Magikarp.” It may have not done much, but it got them to victory when it counted.

Lucy approaches the schoolboy who eyes her. “You’re a weirdo, even though you won against my Azurill.” 

Lucy sniffs. “Accept the defeat, you...you...what’s your name?”

“Leroy!” The schoolboy says and he passes over some cash to her. “I’m going to tell my friends that you’re a weirdo er..”

“Lucy.” Lucy dryly informs him. “And I’m not a weirdo.”

“Are too!”

“Am not!”

“Yeah!”

“No!”

The two end up glaring at each other and Lucy huffs. “Turtwig! Let’s go!” She hastily makes her retreat as Leroy blows a raspberry at her.

“The nerve!” Lucy complains and Turtwig just levels her with a look that says,  _ He’s ten, what's your excuse? _ She gawks at her pokemon who’s supposed to be on her side and they continue on their way.

On their way towards Hargeon Port, Lucy spends it battling other trainers (thankfully none as obnoxious as Leroy), saving Magikarp from itself (it tends to just..jump out of its Pokéball whenever someone starts talking to her), battling some wild Pokémon (once more; Magikarp makes itself a prey to some of the Pidgeys to the area and Lucy has to chase them off with Dratini or Turtwig) before the city limits of Hargeon Port are in view.

“It looks so small from here.” Lucy says to Turtwig in her arms. From this hill, it does, but the ocean is lit up it seems with the sunlight dancing atop of the water. From her viewpoint, she can see Wingulls flying low near the water, ships at the docks, people milling about like little dots. It’s moments like these that make Lucy regret not doing this sooner and why Lucy realizes people make a big deal about adventures.

Lucy manages to take her eyes away from the sight and continues on to the gates of Hargeon Port. There’s a gym here, but it’s a Mavis Path gym; Sting Eucliffe’s gym. Lucy isn’t quite sure what her specialty is, but she thinks it’s something to do with...Fairies? She shrugs to herself. Tonight, she can sleep in an inn thankfully. One night in a tent and a rather rambunctious morning makes her miss actual beds and already made food. Though she probably can’t sleep with her pokemon in the inn.

“Life just isn’t always fair, Turtwig.” She complains out loud. Turtwig tilts their head against her arm and blinks at her. In return, Lucy just smiles. 

She makes her way down the hill path towards Hargeon Port. There are some more pokemon, some Bidoofs and Budews that Lucy fends off. By the time she makes it towards the main gates of the town, her and her team are feeling tired. Even Magikarp didn’t eject itself into any battles towards the end of Route 2.

She finds the Pokemon Center’s red roof easily and strolls on her way there, Turtwig at her feet. When she enters, she sees some people already there. There’s one kid telling his friend about his battle with Sting Eucliffe. Well, bragging about it.

“Ha! Too bad you’re on the Zeref path!” The kid mocks.

“Shut up, Joey!”

Lucy smiles to herself and puts Turtwig in it’s ball as she makes her way to the counter. Nurse Joy smiles at her and takes her pokemon and in six seconds, they are back in her hands.

“Good luck out there.” Nurse Joy tells her and Lucy waves her off with a smile as she turns and makes her exit. She eyes the blue building next store and it takes her about two seconds before she decides to go in.

There aren’t as many people in the Shop like there was in the Center and Lucy immediately beelines for the counter. She orders some potions, paralyze heals, awakenings and some antidotes. She has enough money for all that thankfully.

When she leaves the store her Rotemdex goes off and Lucy answers it without looking to see who is calling. “This is Lucy!”

“Luigi!” Natsu’s voice greets her and she feels the quick anger rising.

“I hate that name, Natsu!”

Natsu just laughs. “Anyway—”

“Don’t change the subject—”

“Where are you now? I’m in Hargeon and I just got the Light Badge from Sting!”

This makes Lucy forget her anger as she jumps in the air. “No way! I just got into Hargeon! Whereabouts?”

Before he answers, he hangs up on Lucy. Lucy balks at her Rotemdex and is about to call him back to yell at him when she hears, “Yo! Luigi!” Coming from her right. She looks up, still with annoyance, to see Natsu running towards her and waving like a lunatic. People see and hear him and look at her and she can’t stop the flush on her face from their eyes on them.

“I said to stop calling me that!” Lucy yells at him.

Not one to be deterred, Natsu stops in front of her and gives her a big hug, lifting her in the air. “How are ya, ya weirdo?”

Lucy puts her palm on his face to push him away. “You’re the second person to call me a weirdo today!”

“Really?” He puts her back on her feet with a wide grin. “I might be even more right then, you know.”

“You’re always wrong, Natsu.” Lucy folds her arms across her chest and glares at him. “That’s why Igneel didn’t want you to go on your adventure.”

Natsu’s eyes widen and he laughs. “That’s low, Lucy!”

Always the mature one of their duo, Lucy sticks her tongue out at him.

“You know how we should settle this?” Natsu asks and Lucy tilts her head. “A pokemon battle!”

Lucy cringes because right as he says the word battle, Magikarp ejects itself from its pokeball and starts to splash (threateningly?) in front of her. She’s had a day to get used to this but relishes the shock on Natsu’s.

Natsu shakes his head of the shock and reaches at his side and calls out Chimchar. Chimchar blinks at them and does an adorable little dance before Natsu calls out, “Ember!”

The fire hits Magikarp and Magikarp flops on the cement. Once more saving her pokemon from itself, Lucy lazily calls Magikarp back and throws out Dratini. Dratini cries out as it enters the battle and uses its tail to wave at Chimchar.

“Aww they’re friends!” Lucy says.

“Hehe, hit your friend with a scratch, Chimchar!” Natsu orders and Lucy huffs. It was cute!

Dratini gets hit and Lucy calls back, “Twister, Dratini!” Dratini follows her orders and creates a small twister to launch at Chimchar, who takes the first hit. Chimchar throws another Ember which doesn’t do much damage to Dratini but does burn him. Thankfully, Dratini brushes it off with a shed skin before it tightens Chimchar in a wrap. In the wrap, Chimchar struggles but hits with another scratch, Dratini tightens its tail around Chimchar and hits it with a Dragon Rage which knocks it out. Now, knocked out, Chimchar disappears from the Wrap by it’s pokeball light and Dratini bristles back into his preferred position.

Natsu calls out for Happy and Dratini hits Happy with an Extreme Speed. On Happy’s turn, a super effective Disarming Voice which really weakens Dratini. Lucy itches to call Dratini back and use Turtwig, but decides against it. She has to have faith in her pokemon. She calls for a Twister attack which hits solidly against Happy. Happy’s next turn sees three fury swipes and the last one, a critical hit, takes Dratini out.

Lucy bites her tongue and holds Dratini’s pokeball. “You did amazing.” She tells him.

She puts Dratini back and Natsu smiles at her. “We’re both doing good, Lucy! I can tell we’re getting better!” 

She returns his smile and takes out Turtwig, who takes a moment to enjoy the sunlight. Happy hits Turtwig disarming voice and Lucy has Turtwig use curse to up her stats. On Happy’s next turn, he swoops down and hits Turtwig with two fury swipes; in return Turtwig tackles Happy with a critical hit. Happy returns this with another disarming voice and Turtwig uses absorb to get back needed health. Happy hits with a super effective Peck and Turtwig once again hits with a critical tackle, taking out Happy.

Lucy blinks at first as she realizes she won. She breaks out into a smile and runs down and picks up Turtwig, who is breathing a bit hard but looks happy nonetheless. “We did it! We won!”

Natsu laughs and nods. “You did! And neither of us pulled any punches!” He puts Happy’s ball back to his side and cocks his head at her. “Look at you, Miss I Don’t Know If I’m Ready For An Adventure.”

Turtwig hugging her chest, Lucy sticks out her tongue at Natsu. “Oh shut it, you. Pay up! I won~!” 

Natsu shakes his head but smiles as he reaches into his pocket. “I’m happy for you, but it means next time we meet—I will win.”

Lucy holds Turtwig with one arm and with the other snatches up his money. “I won’t make it easy.”

Natsu gives her a confused look. “Of course not, that’d be boring.” He throws an arm around her shoulder, “Let’s stop by the Center together, eh?”

Lucy nods and smiles and the pair take the admittedly short walk back. They get their pokemon healed and Lucy notices that the two boys from earlier were gone. Natsu heals his pokemon first and makes attempts to vibrate into another dimension the entire six seconds it takes for Lucy’s pokemon to heal.

“You know, you’re really impatient.” Lucy tells him as she grabs her pokeballs. To Nurse Joy, she adds, “Thank you!”

Nurse Joy just smiles. “Good luck, you two.”

“I’m not impatient,” Natsu weakly argues as he all but drags Lucy by the wrist out of the Center. “I’m just still so excited. I waited so long! I bet if Dad and I stayed in Johto, I would already be the Champion.”

“Confident, eh?” Lucy jokes. But she’s heard this a million times before. And she always quietly disagreed with the assessment. No matter what, Igneel would have made Natsu wait. 

“Well, with you here with me now, I know it’ll at least be a challenge.” Natsu winks at her and Lucy laughs and shakes her head. He looks off to the distance and let’s go of her wrist. “I met this guy with a lightning bolt on his face and I was inspired by him. I’m going to go to Thunder Plain.”

A lightning bolt on his face? Lucy opens her mouth to ask more, but Natsu just runs off with a wave, leaving her in his dust.

She sighs. He really is impatient. But. She knows she wouldn’t change him. If he did end up in Johto, she definitely wouldn’t be here in Hargeon on her own Pokemon Journey. She knew that much.

Lucy takes out her Rotemdex and opens the map. She zooms in on Hargeon and finds the spot where the Inn is. First, she’ll reserve a room there, then she will be able to plot out more of her journey. The next place for her to go is Gladiolus City. At least on the way there, instead of going through Iron Rock Caverns, she can just take the boat. She smiles. It’s what she’s been saving up here, after all — a boat ticket! No creepy tunnels for her, no thank you!

It’s going to be a great day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO many times in plot notes is "Lucy saves Magikarp from itself". honestly who doesn't love a fighty magikarp?   
> here is lucy's trainer card at the end of this chapter! :D 

**Author's Note:**

> any questions about stuff, feel free to leave a comment and ask!
> 
>  **edit:** i went back and edited the first three chapters; nothing in story changed, just the tense because idk why i used to be more comfortable writing past tense lmao


End file.
